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Donald Trump has come under fire from Democrats and New York’s attorney general after announcing he will dissolve his charitable foundation to avoid conflicts of interest.

The Trump Foundation emerged as a major source of controversy during the campaign following reports that Mr Trump used foundation money to settle legal disputes relating to his business and to purchase two large portraits of himself along with other items unrelated to the charity.

An investigation is underway in New York to determine if the funds were used improperly, and a spokeswoman for the state’s attorney general has said the foundation cannot simply shut down overnight.

"The Trump Foundation is still under investigation by this office and cannot legally dissolve until that investigation is complete,” Amy Spitalnick, the spokeswoman, said in a statement.

The Democratic National Committee criticised Mr Trump’s announcement, with a spokesman calling it "a wilted fig leaf to cover up his remaining conflicts of interest and his pitiful record of charitable giving."

Eric Schneiderman in October directed the foundation to stop taking donations because he said it violated state lawCredit:
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Democrats have called on Mr Trump to fully divest from his business empire and place his assets in a blind trust, as other presidents have done upon taking office. Mr Trump has signalled that he is unwilling to do so, and says his sons Don Jr and Eric will run the Trump Organisation while he is in Washington.

The president-elect said in a statement on Saturday that he would be closing the foundation because he did not want “to allow good work to be associated with a potential conflict of interest”.

He said he would continue his charitable work “in other ways”.

The Washington Post revealed last year that Mr Trump had not personally contributed to the foundation in many years.

He also made a $25,000 (£20,360) donation to a group backing Pam Bondi, Florida’s attorney general, while she was assessing whether to investigate Trump University for fraud. Charitable organistions are barred from making political donations.

Mr Trump said on Friday that it was a “ridiculous shame” that his son Eric would not be able to raise donations for his own charity because of potential conflicts of interest.

The businessman claimed repeatedly during the campaign that Hillary Clinton had been swayed as secretary of state by donations to the Clinton Foundation, a much larger philanthropic organisation which accepted funds from foreign governments including Saudi Arabia.

Mr Trump celebrated Christmas in Palm Beach, Florida, attending a midnight service at the church where he and his wife Melania were married in 2005.

Meanwhile a surprise announcement came from within his inner circle. Jason Miller, one of Mr Trump’s top aides, said on Saturday night that he would not accept the post of White House communications director because he needed to spend more time with his family.

That announcement came after AJ Delgado, another Trump adviser, publicly called on him to step down, referred to him as “the baby-daddy” and compared him to John Edwards, the former presidential candidate whose career was derailed by a sex scandal.